REVENUE - Revenue Use from Transport Pricing
Overview
Background & policy context:
While the determination of prices for the use of transport infrastructure has been the focus of much previous and some current European research, it has become obvious that how revenues from transport related taxes and charges could be used most efficiently is also highly relevant. Therefore, the REVENUE project focuses on analysing the efficiency and equity impacts of different options to use revenues from infrastructure charges, and deals also with the acceptability and feasibility of these options.
Objectives:
The REVENUE project was set up with three main objectives:
- to assess current practice for transport revenue use;
- to develop guidelines for good use of the revenues from social marginal cost pricing;
- to examine current practice and the use of the guidelines on a set of case studies.
The project developed theoretical guidelines on optimal use of revenues and their comparison with current practice and spending schemes which are proposed or under discussion in the EU countries. These were demonstrated in a series of case studies focusing on interurban transport - dealing with revenue use in road, rail, airports and seaports – and urban transport.
Methodology:
The objectives of the project have been achieved through a series of steps:
1) Setting the stage. A set of policy and research questions to be addressed were identified. An overview and background to REVENUE was provided and the rationale for addressing the research questions identified was justified.
2) Theoretical framework. A theoretically sound framework for integrating the efficient use of transport infrastructure in the short run, and the efficient provision of infrastructure in the longer run was developed. Central issues are how revenues should be used and how deficits are covered when investment needs are high.
3) Case studies specification. Specifications for an as far as possible harmonised implementation of the interurban and urban case studies were provided. These include:
- a review of pricing and revenue allocation/financing schemes currently introduced across Europe;
- a set of research questions for the case studies;
- a unified methodology for the case studies with regard to data collection procedures and analysis;
- an evaluation scheme to be applied in the different case studies.
4) Interurban and urban case studies. On the basis of the specifications produced in the previous activities, 7 interurban case studies (road financing in Finland, HGV tolls in Germany, Railway investment fund in Switzerland, French multimodal fund, Zurich airport, Ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp, Acceptability of HGV charges) and 4 urban case studies (Oslo, Warsaw, Edinburgh, Berne) were separately dealt with. The case studies results showed to what extent the schemes are efficient, equitable, technically, organisationally and politically feasible and acceptable/accepted.
5) Conclusions and recommendations. The findings of the previous activities were drawn together and summarised, and the project’s overall conclusions and policy recommendations identified. The primary objective was to identify the most effective options for utilising revenues arising from pricing of the existing transport system for funding transport investments and subsidies/deficits or for reduction of other taxes, taking account of the need to achieve an efficient, equitable and acceptable outcome. The policy conclusions relate to the trade-offs between economic efficiency, public acceptability and equity associated with the use of revenues from trans
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